Key play: Johnny Patrick intercepted a Ryan Tannehill pass, putting the Chargers at midfield and setting up a touchdown.

Key stat: Patrick became the fifth Charger to intercept a pass.

Not in the box score: The Dolphins scratched their best blocker, center Mike Pouncey, because of illness, leaving them without three regulars in their offensive line. The Chargers won the coin toss and elected to kick off. On Miami's opening drive, defensive backs Shareece Wright and Marcus Gilchrist each missed a tackle, leading to 23 extra yards after the catch and a field goal. Patrick surprised Tannehill by leaving his man and jumping a sideline pass meant for Brian Hartline. Derek Cox won twice in coverage against Hartline. Wallace had four catches, three against Wright. For the second time in three games, Philip Rivers was intercepted after an apparent miscommunication with Vincent Brown. Ladarius Green beat tight coverage from cornerback Brent Grimes to snag a 32-yard pass. From 5 yards out, Antonio Gates ran by safety Reshad Jones and caught his third TD pass of the year.

Not in the box score: The replay official upheld the ruling that Rivers had thrown an illegal pass after drawing several defenders while running toward the end zone. Earlier in the quarter, the Chargers recovered a Dolphins fumble near San Diego's goal-line, but Corey Liuget's roughing-the-passer penalty negated the turnover. The Dolphins then scored a TD to go ahead. The Chargers' clock management at the end of the first half was suspect. After Thomas Keiser sacked Ryan Tannehill at Miami's 20, the Chargers waited 5-7 seconds after the whistle before calling a timeout with 27 seconds left. After stopping Miami's third-down play, the Chargers elected not to call a timeout that would've forced a punt. Ryan Mathews ran over a Dolphins safety, Jones, on a 15-yard run. Leaking out on a screen away from a semi-rollout -- a favorite play of Norv Turner's -- John Phillips gained a season-high 13 yards. It was his third catch of the year.

Not in the box score: Mathews' 51-yard run off left tackle was 12 yards longer than the fourth-year player's previous best. Chargers end-tackle Sean Lissemore's takedown of Tannehill was his second sack of the season. One play after Jeromey Clary was flagged for holding, Keenan Allen caught a 13-yard pass to put the Chargers at Miami's 45 -- but was flagged for taunting after exchanging words with a defender. The Chargers ended up punting. The team's best healthy edge rusher, Thomas Keiser, seemed to resist a team doctor's attempts to examine him on the sideline. One game after Larry English suffered a season-ending injury, Reggie Walker saw duty as an edge rusher. Liuget's offside penalty, the defense's fourth presnap violation, created first-and-5 and on the next play, Clay went on his scoring rampage after catching a short pass. Manti Te'o, Gilchrist and Donald Butler missed Clay.

Fourth Quarter

DOLPHINS 20, CHARGERS 16

Key play: The Dolphins' Olivier Vernon sacked Philip Rivers on third down to take the Chargers out of field-goal range.

Key stat: For the third quarter in a row, the Chargers didn't score a touchdown.

Not in the box score: Keenan Allen's right knee was wrapped in ice. Vernon got by D.J. Fluker, the rookie playing left tackle for the injured King Dunlap, to sack Rivers. So, instead of going for it on fourth-and-12 or attempting a 54-yard field goal, the Chargers punted to Miami's 6 with 3:58 to play trailing 20-16. Tannehill threw wide of Brian Hartline, who'd beaten Derek Cox on an out route, helping the Chargers to regain possession at their 17 with 1:55 left. When Cameron Wake got by Jeromey Clary to sack Rivers at their 42, the Chargers used their final timeout with 49 seconds left. Rivers didn't spike the ball after an 18-yard completion to Seyi Ajirotutu gave them first down at Miami's 25. By the time Rivers followed with an incompletion near the sideline, just seven seconds remained. The next and final play, a lob to Brown against Grimes, fell incomplete. For the game, Brown had two catches in six targets, totaling 17 yards.